Facebook Business Page Changes – March 2012

Show me the money!

We thought we should put out a blog post dedicated to Facebook seeing as it has been going through a few major changes that will affect everyone that has a Facebook business page.

If you haven’t embraced the changes they are due to be imposed on you on the  31^st March.

With over 1.8 million people using Facebook in Ireland we would suggest that every business should be being proactive about the platform. In this article we will take you through some of the business page changes and the impact of these.

We will also discuss the running of competitions and how to generate more interest  in your page.

The biggest change of all will be the new Facebook philosophy – since  the Initial Public Offering in February 2012 Facebook will now be under pressure to deliver financially for its investors.

We will see the platform becoming more and more monetised and we predict that many of the tricks and gimmicks that we have all been using to boost our page fan numbers will be outlawed and in future if you want to do this you will have to advertise – pure and simple.

Facebook need to start delivering for their investors and will have to manage the balance between maintaining a credible and enjoyable social platform and a place where advertising will be pushed more on all of us.

This change of dynamic will affect how we use Facebook and the March changes are the first big hint of this.

Business Page Changes

The whole look and feel of your Facebook business page (personal profile pages have already changed) will change totally on the 31st March and some of your previous features will not work any longer.

You will need to do a few things to maximise the opportunities here. Besides some new visual changes a timeline has also been introduced where at a glance you can view a chronological history of posts on the page.

Our view is that these changes if embraced properly will deliver an even more impactful page for your business.

(For those of you operating your business from a personal page we would advise changing over immediately as this is not allowed – it is possible to convert from one to the other with friends coming across as fans).

Visual

Your own key visual identity will be delivered by two key visuals.

A (see image above) – Thumbnail

Your thumbnail will more than likely be your company logo and this appears on the bottom left of the main image that a viewer will see on your page. This should be 180 x 180 pixels in size.

Every time the page owner makes a post this thumbnail will appear alongside the post.

B (see image above) – Cover

The main banner image is a new feature introduced by Facebook. It is referred to as a “cover” and it stretches above the thumbnail across the page. This image can be a maximum of 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels high.

Facebook have very specific rules about the content of the “cover page”.

It should be an image that captures the business as best as possible but must not include offers, contact details, web address or any “like” us text. The basic logic here is that this information is available elsewhere on the Facebook page.

It is clear that the new rules prevent the business from advertising or encouraging the user to “like” the page on this cover page.

Our design team are currently preparing new cover pages for a number of clients.

This is a really good opportunity to make your page stand out from competitor pages – grab it!

Landing Page

Before it was possible to specify a “landing page” (see example below) that a new user on your business page was directed to when they first visited.

This was often a customised and highly visual promotional landing page, which encouraged likes, promoted the business or offered the user the opportunity to enter competitions.

This is not possible now using the new layouts and these customised landing pages will be redundant. It is still possible to have a tab that will host competitions and promotions but you can no longer dictate that a user of the page will “land” on this page.

Menu tabs

The menu tabs that were available on the old format on the left hand side of the page are now displayed as tabs in the main display just below (see Starbucks example above) the new cover visual.

It is only possible to display four tabs across the page. The other tabs/applications are available from the right of these displayed tabs by selecting the “down arrow”.

At any time it is only possible to display a maximum of 12 tabs/applications. It is possible to select your own choice of tabs to display on the main page except for photos, which will always display first.

You can do this by clicking on the “down arrow” which will display all the tabs. From here you can swap between tabs that you wish are displayed in the main view.

Posting

You can post as normal but there are a few new features.

Pinning a post – It is now possible to pin a post, which effectively means it will be featured and stay at the top of the page for 7 days.

Other subsequent posts will appear below this post in the stream. This is done by selecting the “pin to top” option (see visual above) that is available to you at the top right corner of each post. You would use this to position your most important post at the top of a page for each new visitor to see first.

Star post – when you “star” a post it will stretch across the full display instead of appearing on the left as a normal post. This will give that post more prominence on the page and it is very useful if you have posts with a lot of content.

Hide/delete post – it is now possible to hide a post (& unhide after if required). When you hide a post it will still display in the  “activity log” as a post. As before it is also possible to permanently delete a post.

Change date of post - it is possible to alter the date of a post so that it will appear in a different position on your timeline.

Milestone – it is now possible to create a “milestone” post, which is a way of marking special events in the life of the business such as a product launch or key event. This feature allows you to upload a photo and specific the milestone date.

Personal User view

The display of your business page is totally customised for each user.

When a user visits a business page their own friend’s activity with that page will appear on the right hand side (see Mad Men visual above) making their experience with the page more informed and personal.

Display View

A user can view different aspects of the business page by choosing from the menu that appears at the top of the page once you start (see image below) scrolling down.

From here the user can choose from the menu of Apps/tabs, choose from the timeline or select different types of highlights.

The timeline can also be accessed directly from the time bar on the right hand side of the page.

Messages

The messages facility is new to Facebook business pages and is a very significant development. Fans of the page can now send a “message” to the page directly if they want to communicate as an alternative to posting directly on the page (which would be visible to all users).

These messages can be viewed and responded to in/from theadmin panel (top of your page). It is possible to shut off this feature preventing fans of the page to send messages.

It is really important that messages are responded to promptly.

Other Features

There are a few new features worth mentioning.

Approval of Posts – it is possible that you can change the settings so that all posts require approval before appearing as posts on the page (this feature can be accessed by going to the  Admin Panel, choosing Manage Page tab, Edit Page, Manage Permissions menu)

Activity Log – from the admin panel it is possible to access a log of all posts by type

Insights – there is now more data available to track the success of your activities

Competitions

This is now a very tricky area for every business who has been building numbers of fans on their page by offering prizes.

The facebook guidelines are quite strict and the new format, which cuts out landing pages where businesses have typically hosted competitions will make it even more difficult.

If you want to run a compeition you will need to:

• Host it on an app/separate canvas page
• State clearly that it is not endorsed by Facebook
• Ensure that the entry criteria does not involve a Facebook activity such as “liking”,”sharing” or “commenting” – for example it could involve answering a question
• Ask each entrant to give seperate contact details
• Inform the winner independently of Facebook (by email or phone)
• Only announce the winner on Facebook once they have been informed and have given their permission

The competition can be mentioned on the wall of the page but cannot be featured on the page.

It would be an idea to mention the competition in a post and then to pin the post to the top of the page, keeping it there above other posts for at least 7 days.

Winning on Facebook

So – with all of these restrictions how can you build your numbers on your Facebook business page and really start engaging with fans?

Content, content, content is the answer…

Without any big fancy tricks or gimmicks you need to give fans good reasons for coming onto your page.

Maybe it will be ..

Because they like you and like what you say

Because they are the first to learn about new products, events and sales?

Because you ask for their opinion and they enjoy giving it

Because you say really interesting things that they enjoy

Because they learn things from your page

Because you give good advice, provide useful tips and information

Because you are really funny and cheer them up

Because you run good competitions and promotions

Because you operate a really great business and they want to express their thanks - a live testimonial!

Because there are really useful Apps on the page

Because they want to feel part of something special

Its important that you achieve all of this through regular posts that are varied, visually interesting and not at all “spam like”.

Over 29.2 million people “like” the Starbucks business page – that’s a lot of coffee drinkers!

“Like” - If you want to boost your page numbers think of this simple word!

While we are having this conversation why not Like the Fuzion Facebook page – we need to catch up with Starbucks!

Social Media Training

If you require assistance with your Facebook activity or any other aspect of your Social Media presence including your overall strategy, blogging, Twitter or LinkedIn use please give us a call.

Fuzion provide Social Media Consultancy, one to one training and run courses for various organisations incuding the Enterprise Boards and the Digital Marketing Institute.

Your 31st March to-do list

We have mentioned a lot of issues and changes but the main things that you need to concern yourself with for the 31st March are:

• Maximise your visual opportunity through a customised cover age (851 x 315 pixels)
• Decide on the tabs that you wish are displayed on the main page
• Review your settings that allow visitors to post
• Decide if you wish to allow fans to leave messages

Until next time !!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

I had a Great 2012 because ..

I had a Great 2012 because ..

 

Well – how did you do?

Did you achieve what you set out to achieve in 2011?

Did you make ambitious plans and fall short of them or did you make any plans at all? – If you did, well done!

I don’t know about you but making plans and actually achieving them is always challenging and at the start of the year I find myself at the start of that loop all over again making promises than often will never materialise!

Last year I wanted it to be a little bit different and I had my own creative and quite practical idea, which was inspired by a book I read called “The Art of Possibility” by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander (a really interesting motivational book by the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and his wife who is an executive coach).

This idea is rooted in the power of visualisation – the principle behind this is that if you visualise what you want to achieve then there is a much better chance of it actually happening.

Here goes ..

Take a pen and paper and simply write your diary entry in advance for your last working day of the year ..

Imagine just before you switch off the lights in the office, before you head out the door to do some last minute shopping and enjoy a well-earned rest, you quietly write your diary entry.

It might go like this..

23^rd December, 2012

Wow, that was some exciting and really fulfilling year!

It was a great year because I really achieved what I set out to both personally and professionally and even more besides because of those opportunities that cropped up that I wasn’t even expecting. At least I had my eyes open and when they occurred I spotted them and grabbed them.

I started the year with a few really clear goals including (go for it, be specific – list at least 5!)

I thought these goals were going to be really challenging, but I achieved these as I made a few important changes in my life that were necessary such as (be honest – what needs to happen for you to achieve those goals – your conditions for success).

It wasn’t all plain sailing and I had a few setbacks but I kept a clear focus on my goals, I kept a positive outlook and by digging deep and having a clear belief in myself and my abilities I managed to achieve them all in the end.

I’m glad I kept a positive outlook and kept my eyes open for those genuinely unique opportunities, which I know will only present themselves in this challenging economic climate – it made a huge difference to my business this year, which I wasn’t expecting.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,  2013 – Bring it On!

Your signature (make sure you do this)

Put this in an envelope, place it in your top drawer and have a peep at it on the first day of every month (set a reminder in your computer to do this) and see what happens.

We did this with our full team at the end of 2010 and I can tell you it worked out quite well, thank you very much!

We will do it again this time round – I’ll let you know how we got on in about 12 months’ time.

By the way I’ve just ordered a really nice new car – guess what was on my list last year!

…what are you waiting for?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Google Adwords and when you should try other forms of “Sniper” Advertising

Fishing for customers!

I am a big fan of Google Advertising  used as part of marketing campaigns for our clients fishing for new customers – the Google Adwords platform is really valuable and I often refer to it as “Sniper” advertising.

Instead of your traditional “blanket” type advertising on newspapers or other media with your Google Adwords campaign you can target anyone that is searching for your products or services – effectively you can target the “low lying fruit” – those people who have already decided that they want what you have to offer.

If you are not found you are not in the game.

Google Adwords operates on a bidding basis whereby you “bid” on particular keywords or phrases – when someone searches for these your advert will display (if you are bidding competitively enough) and if the user clicks on your advert they will be directed to whatever page of your website you have specified. That’s powerful stuff – bringing them right to what they were looking for.

The great thing is that these campaigns operate on a Pay-per-click basis, which means you only pay when your advert is clicked on.

This sounds like an automatic recipe for success but there is no guarantee that the customer will order or enquire – once they arrive at your website you need to ensure that the content excites them sufficiently so that jump into some form of action.

To Google or not to Google?

Google Adwords Tips

There are many tips for making the most of your Google campaigns:

1. Avoid broad match – make your bids either “phrase match” or [exact match] (Google either of these phrases and you will find explanations)
2. Build up Bidding gradually – start low and nudge your campaigns up slowly, keyword by keyword
3. Quality Bidding – be careful with your adverts – split your campaigns into different groups, write separate adverts for each set of keywords and specify an appropriate landing page for each. Optimise your website ensuring that important keywords are catered for.
4. Variations – work on your keywords – spend some time working on all the different variations and add geographic variants of these (PR in Dublin etc)
5. Google Suggestions  – the Adwords software will help you with word variations (make sure you add these in “phrase” and [exact] match formats)
6. Know your Margins – don’t go beyond what is sensible for keyword bids (pause keywords that are too expensive)
7. Measure SEO – make sure that you are not bidding on keywords where you are performing well organically
8. Position First is not necessary – sometimes Position First can be a lot more expensive than 2nd or 3rd, which may make a lot more sense
9. Reporting – set up your reports and keep an eye on the keywords that are using up most of your budget – make sure it makes sense to spend money on these keywords
10. Be Patient – people might come to your website a few times before they purchase – would you buy 1st time you visit a website
11. Awareness - while orders and enquiries might be the ultimate goal other benefits could include awareness in the sector
12. Compare Value against Traditional Advertising – Google Adwords is another form of advertising – compare the effectiveness of your budget against what you are getting in other forms
13. Database – Once you get people to your website try to get them to sign up for any form of database (newsletter, Facebook or Twitter)
14. Content Placement – Avoid content placement adverts in most cases (where Google places your adverts on various websites on the net)
15. Professional – Get help from a professional when you are setting up your campaign but ask for training on how to use it (if you do not know what you are doing Google can be a hungry beast!)

(I’m sure you can add many more tips – I will gladly include other suggestions!)

Facebook Advertising a serious player?

While Google is a great form of online advertising it doesn’t always work and there are times when you should consider switching budget to either Facebook or LinkedIn advertising.

With both of these platforms you target a “fixed” advert(s) and pitch it to a certain demographic of people – these adverts operate on a pay per click basis in the same way as Google. (LinkedIn is the more expensive of these platforms).

The demographic options with both are quite different and as you would imagine LinkedIn is much more suitable for Business to Business advertising.

When advertising here it must be remembered that the person using the platform has not executed a “keyword search” – they are merely using the platform – this probably means that the “click” onto your website is probably less valuable or less immediate than with Google.

I would consider these platforms as an option when:

• Your keywords are just too competitive, and as a result too expensive on Google
• Your product or service is quite new and people do not yet know how or what to search for
• Your objective is more about awareness and branding and building a following (Facebook)
• You want to advertise to your prospects in a more social or specifically business environment (Facebook/LinkedIn)
• You want to target people with declared special interests (Facebook)
• You want to target people who work in particular industries and who hold particular job types (LinkedIn)
• Demographics are more important that search keywords

A superb feature of Facebook advertising (this is why Google are starting to target the social media space with Google +1 as it is a real threat to their revenue) is that you have the option of bringing users to your facebook business page – here you hope they will “like” the page when they get there and then you will enjoy a cumulative effect with all your advertising efforts.

Once you have an interested person on your page you can then excite them with your content, which should lead to plenty of business over time.

Summary – Pay Per Click

Pay per Click advertising is still growing and should be seriously considered as part of your marketing mix. Now there are even more options online and it is important that you understand each of these and explore how these could work for you.

Each of the platforms present unique opportunities, which if executed properly should bring extra business to you.

Pay per click? – It’s just a click away, what are you waiting for?

Google, Facebook or LinkedIn

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion and runs Pay Per Click campaigns for a wide range of clients

The Fuzion Women and The Royal Wedding!

William and Kate or is that Mary?

Now before I go any further let me stress that at Fuzion we have a team of intelligent, diligent and very hard working women ..

“Oh my God” this is going to be the best day ever … Mary (our Londoner, who may feel hard done by today – in the UK this would have been a day off – I think it is here as well!!) declares in a very excited fashion – Oh My God is right !! They are definitely a different species ..

The amount of time and detail and arrangements that have gone into the big day is incredible – I’m not talking about the the arrangements in London, I’m talking about the arrangements by the intelligent and hard working female crew in Fuzion.

The William and Kate inscribed champagne flutes are on standby, special cakes have been baked for the occasion, the LCD screen is set up and the wedding of the decade is about to be screened.

10:30 AM and we are already listening to the excited screams, oohs and aahs about the different dresses and I can confirm that the girls have freely admitted that “we would all love to be a princess”!

10:40: “Oh my God, I have that coat”, “Look at the dress it is, AMAZING !!” “She’s put on weight” “Look, look it’s Prince Charles”

11:02: The girls freak out as the screen freezes on the CNN feed- panic !

Now all the boys are watching it as well ..if you can’t beat them you may as well join them!

Major excitement as we have just unveiled a picture of Mary with Prince William – Paul did a great job with it and I think Mary is genuinely impressed .. we have another little gift for her later!

11:45: We are in the middle of the vows and girls are nervous .. very tense … Yahoo !! They have done it

Fuzion girls working hard!

12:15 “Do you think they will kiss on the balcony ?” – What do you think? – of course they will ..

The champagne and Pimms is flowing, the scones and cream are ready, we have sandwiches, we have gorgeous cheeses, we have pate .. we’re having fun!

The girls are now practicing their Queen “wave” – Jill is definitely the best, guess who has done this before.

Mary is not impressed at the picture of her as the Queen, she prefers being a Princess I am guessing – she is the most fabulous girl, we’re mad about her! William would be lucky to have her but he had to settle for Kate, another commoner.

12:50 Ali arrives to join the fun!

13:05 and all the girls now are just waiting for the balcony kiss (by the way Posh Spice’s outfit got the thumbs up!)

13:27 – the moment has come, they have appeared on the balcony – Mary has declared to us that “I have goose bumps”, Kerrie being very practical “Ah for God’s sake, hold hands will ye!” .. wait for it, wait for it .. lots of waving, anticipation, more waving and there you go, smack – the most polite, useless pathetic kiss of all time!

.. the crowd are chanting … kiss again, kiss again, obviously not very happy with the 1st one … nothing doing just yet, more waving. Ah damn – they kissed while the cameras were following the air force jets flying overhead – what a waste!

That’s nearly it, they’re all going in, backs turned and in they go – “That marriage isn’t going to last” , “Ah, I think it will”

Fuzion girls know how to have fun!

William and Kate (or Mary!) you brought us a little bit of magic today, thank you and the very best of luck!

It probably won’t be easy..

Now – back to work!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Are you spending enough on Positive Costs?

Meet and Greet - Positive Cost?

In my accounting days (yes, I know most of you won’t believe it – I was!!) we had a few different ways of looking at the costs of a business.

The most popular of these was a very simple analysis – Fixed Costs, which were those costs that would not vary with volume and Variable Costs, which were the costs which did vary according to volume. This was quite a simplistic model, which didn’t always hold up!

We then had other methods of looking at costs such as Zero Base Costing and Activity Based Costing .. interesting stuff indeed!

Since the recession has kicked in I have witnessed first hand clients being advised to cut back on expenses by the accounting fraternity and often they just do it themselves automatically – the types of costs that get chopped first are those that are deemed to be “unnecessary”, which will typically include marketing &  advertising spend, sales reps, items like training, corporate entertainment, Christmas gifts, staff entertainment  and other “extras”.

On the surface it is easy to figure out why companies would cut back in such a way but you could ask the question: Why spend this money when sales were easier to come by and when it is harder to win business you just abandon them?

Could reduced sales be a self fulfilling prophecy when you cut out certain overheads?

The New Cost Model

Taking the knowledge of my old profession and combining this with what I am witnessing with clients every day I am now proposing a new way of analysing costs.

Here goes ..

There are actually three types of costs:

Negative Costs –   these are the costs that a business is “stuck” with, regardless of volume. It would include Rent and Rates (but not necessarily 100% of these – I will explain that later), Insurance, ESB, etc.

Maintenance Costs – these are the costs of servicing the business that you have brought in. It would such items as staff costs, raw materials, power and delivery costs.

Positive Costs – these are the costs that are all about bringing new business in, effectively the costs, which should have a “positive effect” on the business.

Positive costs are the most important costs of the whole business, they are the elements that are designed to start the engine, the elements that can make things happen, that “trigger” customers to actually place an order.

Positive costs are far reaching and could include surprise elements that you would not expect: the premium you pay to have a premises in a location that will bring in more customers, the cost of washing the car after it has been serviced, the cost of polishing the shoes that have been repaired, the cost of having a receptionist who answers calls promptly and deals with customer queries swiftly.

There could be an element of positive costs to most people overhead in the business – the porter who does “meet and greet” at the door of the hotel, the credit controller who carefully spends time with customers who are experiencing difficulty, the accountant who spends time with customers to understand the business better, the staff party to reward a hard working team and a deliberate initiative to improve morale.

I’m sure with a little effort you will think of thousands of other unexpected examples – all of these elements contribute to bringing in more business and create a “positive effect” on the business.

Of course Positive Costs will include items such as advertising, marketing, graphic design, web marketing, social media activity and even PR!

Positive costs are absolutely essential for generating business for any company – cutting these out may be viewed as a necessary step but it will eventually choke the oxygen of the business.

Recession (or any time for that matter)

Using our new cost model I would suggest the following approach:

Analyse your costs into the different cost categories and work towards –

1. Reducing the negative costs as much as possible

2. Improving efficiencies and work practices so that maintenance costs are as little as possible

3. Spending as much of your overhead budget as possible on positive costs .

I am not for one minute suggesting naive spending – always look for the best value in your positive costs and don’t waste money, making sure they are actually positive costs – that the spend results in increases in business.

Are you spending enough on Positive Costs in your business?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Have a Postitvely Fabulous Easter!

Positivity? - Why not !!

Budgets, bad weather, IMF bailouts, things are tough, sales are bad, wages are down, burn the bond holders, senior bond holders, junior bond holders, any bond holders – Oh my God, my head is bursting ! Enough is enough ..

In business all the marketers will tell you about the importance of having a Unique Selling Point, a USP. It is that element that is unique that makes your business special and makes you different to your competitors. In a busy marketplace that can be hard to achieve. In the current climate it can be even more difficult as everyone is afraid of mistakes so we end up playing it very safe, even boring at times.

Now go back to my first paragraph, read it again and then read further on and let’s discover a really simple way to make your business stand out this Easter.

Here goes..

This Easter draw a secret line around your business and make it a haven for all those who enter or deal with over the phone or on email – you are going to give them a gift, something that is quite unique, something that are not getting in most other places. When anyone crosses that secret line they are going to experience nothing but positivity – yep, that’s right simple positivity.

That’s all well and good but how do we do it? – Here is my 10 step plan!

1.       Yourself – You start! ( “Good morning, Greg”)

2.       Your Team – Tell them that negative talk is banned, you want them cheery and bright with customers – watch what happens (have a negative jar instead of a swear jar!)

3.       Bright – You want to see bright merchandise in the windows, bright visuals on your website, bright stock in the stock list, bright clothes on the staff. Buy flowers!

4.       Sales – Increase your sales targets. We all know it’s not easy but tell the team you are budgeting for an increase (let everyone else do the opposite, prepare for the negative it and it will definitely happen)

5.       How to? – Ok, while you are positive you are also realistic. You want positive plans from your team as to how the sales targets will be achieved

6.       Bonus – Promise bonuses for those who succeed, win/win if you make it

7.       What to do with that bonus? – Get everyone in the team to write on a piece of paper what they will do with their bonus (put their private responses in an envelope with their name on it – keep it for them)

8.       Drinks/dinner/chocolates/coffee – When the sales plans are done and the bonuses are decided on do something as a team. Bring chocolates or buns into work.

9.       Customers – treat them really nice, offer them coffee, offer them biscuits. Tell them about the secret line if you have to – they will think you are nuts but they will appreciate it

10.   The World – little enough that you can do about the other stuff, keep it outside the line!

Sorry I have one more tip – why stop at Easter?

Happy Easter!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Perfecting imperfection ..

Cafe de Flore Paris - Perfectly imperfect

Do we really want everything to be absolutely perfect?

I absolutely love those places, products or services where you get a genuine, authentic experience that connects with you in a particular way that just cannot be beaten.

The magic ingredient is that besides being great at what they do or sell they have maintained some element that is actually imperfect and genuinely authentic, which is what makes them extra special.

You know what I am talking about .. that market stall, that character pub, that artisan cheese, that hotel with character, that boutique with unusual labels, that restaurant or coffee shop with a great buzz. In these places the crooked pictures on the wall, the charismatic character behind the counter, the candles burning in the wine bottles and the unusual product packaging all actually make the experience better instead of worse.

Just think of Cafe de Flore in Paris – expensive, chic, atmosphere and yes .. perfectly, imperfect!

The opposite is the franchise hotels, shops, restaurants and coffee shops where you get the standard experience, the same look and feel and staff well trained in executing the standard operation manual. Operating at their best you are guaranteed a good experience but you will never get that little bit of magic and authenticity.

Maybe, just maybe the manual needs to be loosened a little so that the local manager can be encouraged to do something authentic and get closer to being perfectly imperfect?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Motivating the boss!

Give your boss a hug!

I was working on employee contracts lately, which I really hate because you get into this formal, “what happens when things go wrong” world.

You suddenly go from the niceties of the interview and the informal job offer to the “legal contract“, which at the end of the day is a vital legal document protecting you and your staff members in the event of any issues arising.

I know it has to be written in a particular way but I really try and keep it as “real” as possible capturing the essence of the agreement and the spirit of the working arrangement and our organisation. Even with our very best efforts the contracts still carry some of those awful formal bits.

Before I put the latest offer in the post I have one last glance over it and I realise that I have left something out that is really vital to me, I have actually quite carelessly left it out of all the contracts I have ever issued.

Here goes with the missing clause – In the course of your duties you must motivate the boss!

I can’t ever recall seeing something like this in an employee contract and I’m sure it would be a difficult issue to review if there were ever an issue or dispute but I do think it would be a great thing to put in there.

Like most bosses today I am juggling a million things and so many different roles. I work really hard, I try to make sure our team are motivated and happy (despite tax increases reducing their income), I make sure that our working conditions are comfortable, I make sure we stay up to date on all the latest trends and technology, I make sure that we bring in enough business to pay the bills, I make sure that we collect on time (or as best as possible) from our clients, I make sure that we pay our bills, I make sure that we pay our taxes and most of all I make sure that we deliver the magic that makes all of this happens; satisfied clients – we make sure together that we consistently deliver great results for them.

I don’t expect a medal or anything for the really long hours, effort, endurance and 24/7 focus but at times this can be really stressful and quite exhausting, particularly now when the rewards can be as simple as just staying in business, which I do fully appreciate. While I am normally really upbeat and will gladly take on the role of motivating the others at times I do slump a little – it’s at these times that I really need one of my crew to spot the “dip” and say those few words, give me a motivational pep talk, take me for a coffee or whatever it takes.

Thankfully my crew are good at spotting the dip and aren’t shy at offering a “lift” at the right time – that is one of the most valuable things they could do for me. Probably more valuable that all the other stuff that is required of them – After all there is no jurisdiction or hierarchy over motivation.

How about putting that clause in the contracts? Not so crazy after all ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications.

Wow, what a Year!

Merry Christmas

I’m not sure about you but the crew here are fairly wiped out after a super and very hectic year where we had all sorts of ups and a few personal downs. We worked harder than ever before (I promise we were never slouches), because that is what is required from all of us to “storm” our way through these tricky times.

We are looking forward to rolling our sleeves up again with you in 2011 and making it another good year – these challenging times aren’t going to beat us and we want to be in a position to grab those unique opportunities for Fuzion and our clients when they present themselves.

But … we do need a little break to recharge the batteries and come back in 2011 with all guns blazing. We’re going to be off from December 24^th till Tuesday the 4^th January – we will of course be available for anything important that needs doing in the meantime.

On that note the Fuzion team would like to sincerely wish our clients both past and present and all of those partners and friends who have shared our 10 Year Fuzion Journey, the most fabulous Christmas and of course a really Happy New Year.

See you in 2011 for even more fun!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion Communications

Pics from our 10′th Birthday Party!

Fuzion "Dream Team"

Elaine Duggan and Alison O'Brien

Sarah Waldron, Deirdre Waldron & Bibi Baskin

Mary & Evelyn

Brian O'Connell & Doreen O'Mahony

Yvonne Cronin and Bryan Flynn

Virginia Foley and Glynis Denneh

Mairead, Joan & Ruth

Kate Nagle & Alison O'Brien,

Deirdre and Greg

Ellen Canty & Kerrie O'Callaghan

Legendspast and present !

The Canty's - Brendan, Ellen and Greg

Richard Nash & Marie

Conor George & Gina Kelly

Wayne Cronin Fuzion & Kate Nagle DietDeli